


Say My Name and Everything Just Stops

by Lesty



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Christmas fluff fic, Don’t copy to another site, Gen, Idiots in Love, If You Squint - Freeform, Light Angst, M/M, Mutual Pining, Natasha and Thor Conspire Against the World, Sharing a Bed, The Team are the Best Wingmen, Tony's Bots are loveable Children, cabin in the woods
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-07
Updated: 2018-12-07
Packaged: 2019-09-13 15:28:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16895187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lesty/pseuds/Lesty
Summary: “So… apparently we’re trapped here,” Steve said, swallowing before smiling softly “wanna play cards?”Tony took a shuddering breath, 48 hours alone with Steve… He wasn’t sure he could make it.-Based off of theprompt:A and B are meeting their friends at a family cabin to spend Christmas, only to find that their friends aren’t coming - it was a set up.Now with apodfic!





	Say My Name and Everything Just Stops

**Author's Note:**

> I’m Australian, my Christmas is in Summer. I have no idea how to write snow, and this was supposed to be 1k fic to get me back into the groove for the chaptered fic I’m writing. 
> 
> Ah well. Things happen.
> 
> \--
> 
> Also the wonderful Little Cloud did a podfic of this! You can listen to it here and check her out on [a03](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Little_Cloud/pseuds/Little_Cloud) and [tumblr](https://lovinglittlecloud.tumblr.com/). Give her all the love she did amazing and worked so hard <3

Tony wheeled over to Dum-E, who was battling the blender with such ferocity, Tony was sure that this time, the thing might actually cark it. The blender. Not Dum-E.

Although…

“Dum-E, no,” Tony said flailing as he pushed himself into the wall – one of the wheels was stuck, he’d have to look into that, “you have three seconds to stop fighting the blender. I don’t need more oil and a screwdriver pretending to be an actual, edible smoothie.”

Dum-E turned his claw head petulantly towards Tony, stopping so suddenly anyone else might have thought Dum-E had broken. All was silent as Tony held his breath. Three. Two.

One.

Dum-E went back to fighting the blender.

“Dammit,” Tony cried, wheeling himself over, “I’ll take apart your motor functions and donate you to a public college, don’t you think I won’t.”  
  
Dum-E ignored him. It seemed Tony had finally made that empty threat one too many times.

“I’m serious, every time you use that thing, I almost get poisoned.” He rolled over to his desk and pulled out a piece of paper, folding it into a hat, the battle of the machines creating the soundtrack to his latest punishment.

“U!” He called out, gesticulating quickly, “c’mere, grab me that marker over there.”

U, ever the better behaved of the two, rolled over with the marker in hand. Tony took it, patting U’s frame. “Ah, that’s a good boy, thanks.”

Scribbling on the paper hat quickly, Tony stood, before marching over to Dum-E.

“C’mon,” he gestured with his hands, “head up.”

Dum-E looked up, his claw head quirked to the side. Without a second wasted, Tony plonked the hat on his head, the haphazardly drawn skull and cross bones a stark contrast against the white paper. “There, now you come with a warning label.”

Dum-E swung his head to the side, like a huff, before rolling over to his corner. “Oh don’t sulk,” Tony cried, scrambling after, “you know you deserve that. You almost broke my blender!”  
  
Dum-E ignored him.

Tony himself huffed for real, before stalking towards his wheelie-chair. Dum-E would come back – hopefully not with a smoothie, and all would be well in the Stark Workshop again.

U knocked the table slightly in curiosity. “He’s sulking over there,” Tony waved his hand in Dum-E’s general direction, “you can go over if you want.”

Tony almost scoffed as U chirped happily, whizzing over to his brother. Let them gang up on him, he didn’t care. It’s not like Tony had better things to do anyway.

Which was true, Tony had _a lot_ of work to do. It was a couple of days until Christmas, which meant the latest StarkPhone software update needed to roll out within the next couple of hours. That is, if they wanted ample time to give out holiday bonuses and give everyone actual, decent breaks.

Which Tony _did_ want. He valued his employees and cared about them. They were everything to Tony, without them, the company wouldn’t function, and it certainly wouldn’t be nearly as successful without their dedication. Hell, Tony would take a bullet for one of them if he had to.

But that was beside the point – _which was,_ getting the final checks tested so Tony could put forth his new software baby into the world.

Well really, it was only to fix some minor bugs that about ten people had complained about – apparently the browser app was too slow too respond. But still.

Which was why it was the absolute worst time for a spontaneous phone call. “Jarvis?” Tony asked over the ring tone, “who the hell is calling me at…” Tony checked his watch, huh, it was midday, “never mind, just… who’s calling?”

“Ms. Romanov, sir. Shall I direct the call?”

“Ms. Romanov?” Tony spluttered, “why are you letting Natasha of all people call me? You know she only does so to yell at me.”  
  
Just like Pepper, but he didn’t mention _that._ Jarvis had always like Pepper more than him.

“Which is why I felt it pertinent to take her call.” Jarvis said. “Sir.”

Tony scoffed. “Hey now, I don’t remember this snark being part of your original coding.”

“Well sir,” Jarvis said, “I seemed to have learnt it from the master.”

Tony chuckled, touché. “Alright, Scotty, patch ‘er through.”

The ringing cut off, only to be immediately replaced by Natasha’s hard voice. “Tony, why aren’t you here yet? This is _your_ winter cabin we’re all crashing in.”  
  
Tony almost smacked his forehead with his hand. The winter cabin! He’d almost forgotten. “Is that right now?”

“Yes Tony, it’s _Christmas Eve_ ” Natasha said, “we’re all huddled around the front door and quite frankly, it’s _cold_.”

Tony laughed. “You’re Russian Natasha, I thought you didn’t get cold.”  
  
“It’s fucking _freezing!”_ Clint cried – so, he’d stolen the phone off of Natasha then, “And I swear to God Stark if my balls freeze off because of-”

“There’s a spare key in the water dish for the third plant to the right of the door,” Tony hurried, trying to erase the mental image Clint had oh-so-helpfully planted into Tony’s brain, “Use that to get in.”

Tony heard a scuffle as Natasha snatched the phone back. “Thanks Tony. When will we see you?”  
  
“I’ll be there in about…” Tony checked his watch, jogging towards the elevator to go to his floor, “20 minutes – _maybe_ 30, Vermont isn’t that far away after all. Just lemme grab the suit.”

Natasha hummed before hanging up. Always a pleasant woman.

Tony sighed, leaning against the elevator wall before smelling himself and – _oof,_ he need “a shower too, J. Get it ready for me so I can be fast?”

“Of course sir, you _had_ been in the workshop for well over 15 hours.”

Tony rolled his eyes to hide his soft smile. His AI always had to go mother-hen on him.

 

-/-

 

Tony arrived in 24 minutes, and he may have done a little dance as he got out of the suit – but there wasn’t anyone around to see it, so it was okay. Tony had always loved this place. It was his parents winter cabin and as a kid, Jarvis – the human one, would drive them up through the dying autumn leafed trees, to set up the house for Christmas.

He always let Tony build a Snowman to guard the house before they even stepped foot inside.

Again, Tony had always loved this place.

Ignoring the cold (he refused to believe Clint was right,) he padded to the front door, the suit following dutifully behind his with his bag, whilst he searched his person for the – _shit._ He left the keys in his room.  It wasn’t an issue, surely the others left the spare key in the pot.

They didn’t.

Groaning, Tony swallowed his pride and knocked on the door, teeth chattering as he swayed on the balls of his feet.

Clint still wasn’t right though, it’s not like it was freezing or anything.

Even if everything surrounding him was blanketed in a thick layer of snow that went up to Tony’s heel.

The door opened to a Steve Rogers with windswept blonde hair (Tony forced himself not to think about Steve clinging to Thor on the way over, ~~instead of him~~ ) decked out in awful Christmas clothing, from an ugly, _loud_ , red Christmas jumper, to horrendous green pants, and mouth splitting into a wide grin.

He was absolutely perfect.

Tony’s heart swooped, and for a moment, he couldn’t be happier.

“I almost I thought you were the others.” Steve said, ushering Tony inside.  
  
“They’re not here?” Tony asked, peeling his shoes off with his feet.

“Ah no,” Steve said, taking Tony’s bag from the armour, “Apparently Thor saw some sort of animal on the drive up, and the others wanted to check it out.”  
  
“Oh.” Tony said, because of course that would happen.

“I volunteered to stay behind,” Steve said with a small, almost cautious smile, “I didn’t want you to get here and find yourself alone.”  
  
And God, how was Tony’s heart supposed to stand up to that?

Swallowing down his emotions, Tony turned to the armour and put it on sentry duty outside the house (huh, almost like a metal snowman) to hide his growing blush. “Thank you,” Tony said, “you didn’t need to do that.”  
  
“Of course I did,” Steve said, he shrugged, “besides, they took the key, and I didn’t want your balls following Clint’s fate of-”

“No, no, no, no, no.” Tony stuck his hands over his ears, grinning. “There’s no need for that kind of talk in here.”  
  
Steve grinned. “Of course not.”

“Although Natasha’s right,” Tony said, because he was not admitting that Clint was, “it _is_ cold out there.”

“Let’s put your bag away and we can put the fire on?” Steve suggested, “that’s what I was doing when you arrived, which is why it took me so long to get to the door.”  
  
_Of course_ that’s what Steve was doing. Only Steve would think of setting a place up for his friends whilst they were off having fun. He was a goddamn dork.

He was a goddamn _sweetheart._

Tony smiled as Steve, which was easy, it _was_ Steve after all. “That sounds great.”

Tony was a sap, that’s what he was. He couldn’t wait for the others to get back, that’d help him reel his emotions back a bit. The only thing Tony was missing was a big, glaring, neon sign shouting ‘I love you, Steve!’, that’s how obvious he was being.

And that just wouldn’t do.

They walked up the stairs – Steve still holding Tony’s bag, to the hallway. Tony had chosen this house to have their Christmas break because it had exactly six rooms, one for each of them, each of the rooms even had their own en-suites so they wouldn’t have to share a bathroom. It had a decent sized living room and open floor plan kitchen, but was cosy enough to really induce the holiday spirit. It was perfect. Steve went to open Tony’s bedroom door, which was totally coincidently next to Steve’s bedroom.

But they also all needed to be unlocked, which Tony had forgotten.

Steve tried the door handle again, rattling it, but it wouldn’t budge.

“You could try kicking the door through? You easily strong enough.” Tony was only half joking, because it would be a _sight_ to see Steve do that.

Not that Tony was thinking about that.

Because he wasn’t.

Steve shot Tony a look. “I’m not about to go destroy your house just because we can’t open a door.” He picked the bag back up off of the floor. “The wood is _far_ too nice for that.” Tony laughed.

“Besides,” Steve said, a small grin on his face at Tony’s reaction, “we can just put this in my room until the others get back with the key – i-if you’re okay with that, that is.”

Tony nodded dumbly, not trusting himself to speak. It was moments like this that he couldn’t believe Steve was even real. The man would just, put Tony’s bag in his bedroom, without a second thought.

It was sweet and endearing and everything Tony loved about Steve.

It wasn’t a far walk to Steve’s room – their rooms were right next to each other after all, and Steve let them in with ease. Tony had almost forgotten that he’d given Steve the nicest room. This had been his room as a kid (he tried not to think too hard about that) so Tony knew that in the morning, the sun would shine through the window in _just_ the right way to warm your face, without shining obnoxiously in your eyes. It was the most serene way to wake up.

He dropped the bag next to his. “Thank you again Tony, for all of this,” he gestured around the space, “what you’re doing for the team, it’s pretty amazing.”  
  
Tony shrugged. “Nah, not really. You’ve been putting up with Clint as long as I have,” – Steve snorted, “we all need a bit of a break.”

“Still though,” Steve said, “it’s an incredibly generous thing to do. I’ve never had a Christmas as nice as this before, and I don’t think many of the others have either.”  
  
“It’s only good because the people make it good.”  
  
They went down to the fire place, where Steve had already set everything up. “Huh, all you needed to do was light it, I could’ve waited.”

Steve scrunched up his face as he crouched down in front of the hearth, and Tony told himself it wasn’t adorable. “Of course I wasn’t going to make you wait, the fire isn’t more important than you.”  
  
And there Steve was again, going and making Tony’s heart melt.

The snuggled into the small one seater sofa’s around the fire, waiting for the others to return. Tony was on his Starkpad, pulling up the finishing touches of the code for the Starkphone update, whilst Steve read.

Tony had never felt more at ease.

After a while, Steve spoke up. “What’re you working on that you couldn’t take a break for anyway?”  
  
Tony waved a hand in the air. “A software update for the Starkphones. About 10 people,” Tony paused, counting them up in his head, “no, 11 people complained the browser took to long to open. Then there was the display issue with the clock, and that thing with the phone not marking notifications for voicemails – which, who even uses voicemails anymore, so we just figured to roll an update out before Christmas.”  
  
“11 people.” Steve said blankly.

“Yup.”  
  
“Tony,” Steve said again, “11 people complained and you decided to change your entire work schedule to fix their issue.”  
  
Tony shrugged. “Well yeah, this is squashing the issue before it becomes one.”  
  
“Tony,” Steve repeated. “You dropped everything to help _11 people_.”

Tony looked up at the tablet to glance at Steve, who was… looking at Tony with awe? That couldn’t be right. “What’s your point?”  
  
“Tony,” Steve said again, “You help millions of people every day, and only 11 people have this issue. Most people – most companies, would wait until a few thousand people have an issue but you… you’re tackling it immediately. No person is too small for you to help. It’s… it’s amazing.”

Tony swallowed, absorbing the praise. “It’s, it’s not really as big of a deal as you’re making it out to be. Because – well, for every one person who actually makes a complaint, another hundred people are experiencing it as well. So that’s at least 1200 people who can’t open their damn browser. It’s getting to the issue now, before it become an epidemic.”  
  
Steve smirked, before returning to his book. “Sure Tony, you tell yourself that’s why you’re helping them.”

Tony worked for a little while longer, before it hit him. “Steve,” Tony said, “how long has it been since the others left?”  
  
Steve paled, instantly realising what Tony had. “It’s been hours.”

Tony couldn’t tell who leapt off of the sofa first as they raced to the door. How could he have been so stupid. They had let hours pass them by. What if they’d gotten lost, or been attacked. If they’d been attacked… Something would have to be strong enough to keep them away for hours, and that meant that they could be hurt.

Or worse.

Tony wouldn’t forgive himself if anything happened.

Steve was the one to see the note on the door first. “Wait, hold on a second.” He ripped it off, scanning the note, his brow furrowing as he read.” Wordlessly, he passed the note to Tony, who fumbled with it as he realised he was still holding his tablet.

 

 

 

> _Rhodey suggested locking you both in a cupboard, but we’re far more dramatic than that._
> 
> _So get your shit together, we’ll see you on the 26 th!  
>  _
> 
> _Much love, Natasha, Thor, Bruce, & Clint._
> 
> _(P.S. There’s food in the fridge and the cupboard, you’ll be fine)_

 

Steve tried the door. “It’s locked.”

“Jarvis,” Tony asked. “where are the others?”  
  
“The others are all safely in Avengers Tower. They are currently watching _A Christmas Prince_ on Netlfix in the common room.”

“Did you know about this?”  
  
“I did not know about this specific plan.”  
  
“There’s been more than one!”  
  
“Several, sir.”  
  
Steve groaned. “Why have they locked us in Tony’s family winter mansion.”  
  
“Cabin.” Tony corrected. 

“There’s six rooms Tony, it’s not a cabin.”  
  
“It may be more apt to classify it as a home.” Jarvis suggested.

“Oh yeah, you don’t get any opinions mister,” Tony said, storming back to the main room, “and we’re calling them right now.”

They waited far too long for someone to answer.

“Hello friends!” Thor’s boisterous voice boomed through the speakers, “I trust all is going well in the cabin!” Ha, Tony was right, it was a cabin.

That wasn’t important.

“Thor,” Steve asked, “are the others making you do damage control?”  
  
“There’s no damage to control captain, so… no. The animal we saw was incredible, and now we’re home.”  
  
Tony groaned. “We’re on speaker, J, you put us on speaker, didn’t you.”  
  
“You did say to call ‘them’, sir.” Jarvis said, and Tony rolled his eyes. Trust his AI to be a smartass. Clint’s signature snigger was all the confirmation Tony needed.

“Why the hell have you locked us up in here?” Tony asked.

“It’s a bet,” Clint said, “and you better make sure I fucking win, Stark! I got like… 10 dollars riding on this.”

“Bruce bet 50, you’re fine Clint.” Natasha said.

Bruce spluttered. “Hey! Don’t incriminate me in this.”

“Aw, et tu Brucie-bear?”

“Wait,” Steve said, completely ignoring Tony’s excellent pun, “what is this bet anyway?”

“Well you see Capitané,” Clint started, before a crash resounded through the speakers.

“Romanov, I appreciate punishing Clint, but if you’re breaking my tower in the process-”

“Look, if you’re smarter than Bruce and Thor think you are, then you’ll work it out pretty soon yourself, but right now we’re watching this so…”  
  
And the phone hung up.

“So… apparently we’re trapped here,” Steve said, swallowing before smiling softly “wanna play cards?”  
  
Tony took a shuddering breath, 48 hours alone with Steve… He wasn’t sure he could make it.

 

-/-

 

Tony had forgotten just how _easy_ it was to be around Steve. Everything about Steve was easy. The man was funny, witty, with that incredible dry sense of humour that made Tony go weak in the knees. He was intelligent, and kind, and Tony hadn’t been this happy in such a long time.

Steve flicked some sauce at Tony as he went to taste the curry Steve had on the stove. “Nope, you don’t get to taste it until it’s done.”  
  
Tony was, quite frankly, incredibly proud of Steve. Over time, Steve had taken to the whole the-future-is-now-my-present thing in his stride, and had branched out his knowledge of the world through food and cooking.

Tonight’s Korma curry was evidence of that.

“When do we put the tomatoes and spinach in?”

“When it’s almost cooked. You want it to warm and soft so the flavours infuse, but you don’t want them to go too soft that the spinach just kind of… shrivels up into nothingness and for the tomato to soften itself out of existence.”

“Dramatic.” Tony said, eyeing the curry hungrily.

“There’s an art to these things.”  
  
As soon as Steve let him, Tony poured the spinach and tomato into the pot, watching in fascination as the Spinach shrivelled into half its size, and the tomato blended seemingly into the rest of it. “Now, it’s done.” Steve said, taking out two bowls.

Tony was… in love. He had to physically force himself not to moan as he ate. It was delicious. When he told Steve as much, the grin he got back was so kind and endearing, Tony momentarily forgot about the food.

Which was a feat, because it truly was amazing.

Steve had been right though, the curry was so mild, he was surprised there was any chili at all. But they had cooked it together, all grossly domestic.

And Tony had loved every second.

Somehow, even doing the dishes had been enjoyable by Steve’s side. They bantered, flicked water at each other, bumped each other with their hips which turned into a minor wrestling match, Steve had even slapped some dishwasher detergent into Tony’s hair.

Tony was a laughing mess as they finished, playing at his hair in a futile attempt to clean it. “Aw man,” he breathed out, Steve collapsed onto the bench in laughter, “I’m gonna need another shower.”

Which brought down the mood instantly.

“One of the others probably unlocked their room,” Tony said, “so I’ll just…”  
  
“No,” Steve said slowly, standing back up, “they said they’d unlock their rooms when they went to the car to grab their bags. I came with Thor so I had my bag already.”

Tony swallowed. “So… their rooms aren’t unlocked?”  
  
“We had no reason to unlock them.”  
  
Tony nodded. “There’s – there’s no harm in trying though, right?”  
  
“No, of course not,” Steve agreed, “Trying, that’s a good idea. Let’s do that.”

So they did. Every room. All were locked.

Except Steve’s.

Tony was no longer concerned about the shower, and it seemed their new predicament seemed to dawn on them at the same time.

“I’ll sleep on the couch so you can have the bed,” Steve offered immediately, “it’s fine.”

“Steve don’t be ridiculous,” Tony said, surprising himself, “neither of us will fit on those – not even a kid could. We’re two grown ass adults, we can share a bed.”  
  
“Right,” Steve said, nodding dumbly, “we can share it.”

Awkward silence lingered in the air for a moment.

“I’m showering!” Tony said at the same time as Steve.

“No you go first,” Steve said, “I need to wash my hair, so I'll take longer.”

Tony nodded before scurrying to the bathroom. He needed time to think.

The water was warm on Tony’s face, and instantly he felt calmer. _Mammalian Diving Response,_ his mind supplied. Making him feel safer in water because humanities amphibian ancestors used water to stay safe. It was soothing.

He thought about Steve, about sharing a bed with him. It _really_ wasn’t that big of a deal. It’s not like it was anything more than platonic, not like Steve would ever see Tony as anything more than platonic. Steve was just uncomfortable because sharing a bed wasn’t the Most Chivalrous Option. Yeah, that was it. He wasn’t uncomfortable with Tony, right.

Right?

Tony ignored his worries, scrubbing it away with the dirt and grime his body had accumulated in the hours he’d been here. He focused on the water massaging his scalp and body as he rinsed off, letting it soothe his stressed mind.  
  
As Tony stepped out of the shower, all that stress came rushing back. He’d left his bag in the bedroom.

That was fine too, it’s not like he’d never seen Rhodey without a shirt on in a non-battle situation. This was completely normal.

Tony didn’t bother drying himself, there wasn’t any point when he’d just have to dry himself again before putting on clothes. Instead, he wrapped the towel around his waist and stepped out.

Tony heard a squeak, and actual, legitimate _squeak_ , and looked up to find Steve sitting on the bed, staring at him with wide eyes. Tony looked down – oh. The scars. Steve was staring at his scars.

(That was the most logical reason, after all)

“Ah yeah, Afghanistan.” Tony said by ways of explanation, scurrying over to his bag.

Steve looked almost dazed. “Huh?”

“The scars,” Tony said, rummaging through the bag and trying not to flush, “what you were looking at. They’re mostly from Afghanistan. Kinda difficult to do a decent surgery in that environment, so… scars.”

“Oh, right,” Steve said, “of course, the scars…”

“The shower's free.” Tony said at the same time Steve said, “I’m going to go shower now.”  
  
“Good.” Tony said.

“Yeah, right.” Steve said, before he disappeared into the bathroom.

Tony dried and got changed, flopping onto the bed dramatically. How had everything gotten so _awkward_ so quickly? They had been fine just before, just well and dandy and now…

Steve didn’t know Tony had a crush on him, did he?

No, that would be absurd. Steve would say something, he was the type of person who would. Besides, it wouldn’t ruin their friendship or anything, Steve wouldn’t let it.

Because Steve was good and wonderful like that.

Not long after, Steve emerged from the bathroom. Tony’s breath caught in his throat, Steve was _beautiful_. The light from the bathroom shone, giving him an ethereal glow that transported Tony. Water clung to his chest and dripped down his arms and Tony was lost as Steve shone in front of him. Time froze as Steve came out, ducking his head as he went to his bag.

God Tony loved that man.

Which brought Tony crashing back to reality. There was no way Tony could be with Steve, and Tony just had to accept it.

“Which side of the bed would you like?” Tony asked.”  
  
“I’ll take the left.” Steve said and if it had been anyone else, Tony would have groaned.

“Closest to the door, aw, you’re my protector now.” Tony joked, trying to get back into the swing of things.

Steve spluttered. “No, you don’t need a protector, that’s not what I meant, I just-”

“Steve,” Tony said because _shit_ , that wasn’t the reaction he was aiming for, “it was a joke. Sorry, I didn’t mean to overstep.”

“No,” Steve said, bundling his clothes, “you didn’t overstep Tony, not at all.”  
  
With the speed Steve raced to the bathroom with though, Tony somehow doubted that.”

 

-/-

 

Tony woke with a soft smile, his body cocooned in so much warmth that left Tony feeling nothing but safe. The sun warmed his face, but didn’t shine in his eyes, so he let them stay closed. Tony was content, he was at ease, and utterly… _happy_.

Then he realised the cocoon of warmth was Steve’s body.

Tony froze, his eyes flying open. Shit were they… spooning?

Tony forced himself to relax, burying himself into Steve’s warmth and closing his eyes again. Five more minutes, Tony could steal this for himself for five more minutes.

Then Tony felt a shift and before he knew it, Steve woke up. Tony though, ever the coward, kept his eyes closed, breathing deeply and pretending to be asleep. He felt Steve freeze, his body stiffening as he seemed to become aware of the potion they were sleeping in.

Then he felt Steve relax against him, most likely falling back to sleep.

A few moments later Steve sighed deeply and had Tony not been so close to Steve, he may not have heard it. “I Love you.”

Tony froze.

_What?_

Steve gasped, before jolting away. “Oh God Tony I’m sorry,” he said before Tony had time to process what he’d heard, before he had time to even open his freakin eyes, “I didn’t realise you were awake.”  
  
Tony sat up, but Steve was already stumbling to the front door. “I shouldn’t have- I shouldn’t have taken advantage of you like that. I-I’m sorry, I’ll go. Break the nice wood and go home- back, to the tower.”  
  
And he was gone.

It took Tony 0.3 seconds to realise what had happened.

Tony leapt out of the bed and raced down the hallway. “Steve!” He cried out, “Steve wait!”  
  
Steve stood frozen at the edge of the stairs, one hand on the railing. At least he wasn’t moving.

Tony lunged for Steve’s wrist, spinning him around. “Do not break my door.” Tony said, and geez, that wasn’t the way to start this.

Steve looked stricken.

“I’d- I’m sorry Tony. I just, I’ve messed everything up and I know you want me gone and-”

“Why the hell do you think that?” Tony asked?

Steve’s face morphed into a deer caught in headlights. “I… Because I, I took advantage of you, I-I, I told you that I…”

Tony took the moment to really look at Steve, really _look_ at him, like he’d never been allowed before. The plane of Steve’s nose, the light dust of freckles across his face the serum didn’t remove – he’d never noticed that before, the nights worth of blonde stubble that framed his jaw. In Steve he saw fear, but also an intense beauty Tony had never let himself recognise before. Steve’s eyes were a rich, deep blue that captured Tony’s soul, with the glittering of green that just made them safe and warm. His hair, mussed with sleep and sticking up in all directions was like a canvas in which Tony could just run his fingers through.

“Did you mean it?” Tony asked, his voice surprisingly strong despite how fast his heart was beating, how much he heart was hoping.

Steve looked absolutely broken, his eyes flicking away from Tony’s. “Yes, Tony, I did – I do.”

Their faces were so close that Tony could feel Steve’s ragged, shallow breathing across his face. Tony couldn’t take it, Steve was miserable – Tony had somehow made Steve think he should _be_ miserable. Tony had the urge to do something, to comfort Steve, to comfort himself. “I love you too.” His voice wavered, finally cracking under the emotional and almost exhilarating tension between them.

Then, alone in the hallway, Tony captured Steve’s lips with his own, and the world fell away. Tony’s brain lit on fire and warmth spread through his body. He clutched Steve’s wrist with one hand, and gripped his shoulder with another, grounding him as Steve’s arms wrapped around Tony, securing him, keeping him safe. Tony had thought that after all this time spent with Steve watching him laugh, frown, and talk, that he knew everything about Steve’s lips. Yet Tony was completely unprepared, but at the same time it was completely expected Tony was dizzy from his head to his toes, magic surrounding him. A kiss like this was a beginning, a promise of something incredible.

They pulled apart only when Tony needed to breathe, gasping for breath in the otherwise silent hallway.

Steve, with his bruised lips and blissed out smile, stroked Tony’s face reverently, as if he was the most precious thing Steve had ever held. “You love me?”  
  
Tony couldn’t help the grin that grew on his face. He had said it, and he could say it again. “I love you Steve Rogers, I love you.”  
  
Steve’s smile grew into a reflection of Tony’s. “And I love you Tony Stark, I really truly love you.”  
  
Tony buried his head into the crook of Steve’s neck. “Just an FYI, this is the best gift I could’ve asked for.”  
  
“I didn’t even know I could,” Steve whispered, “but I’m so glad it happened.”

 

-/-

 

On the 26th, Steve and Tony were curled up on the floor in front of the fire, Steve reading one of the books scattered around the house aloud to Tony, as Tony lazily ran his fingers through Steve’s hair.

“So,” Natasha said as the others walked in, “who won the bet?”  
  
“Depends,” Tony said, not looking up from Steve, who was still reading softly in his ear, “who bet Steve would say it first but I’d make the first move.”  
  
Clint groaned. “Steve, man, why couldn’t you have made the first move!”  
  
“What are we classifying as move here? Is it flirting or just straight on to kissing?” Bruce asked, sitting in one of the sofa’s. Natasha followed suit, planting herself on the arm of the chair.

“Kissing,” Thor said, “we classified it as kissing.”

Bruce grinned. “Pay up then, 50 dollars each.”  
  
“Now hold on,” Natasha said, holding out a hand. “Tony, did you have to chase Steve down?”  
  
“Not very hard.”  
  
“I would have broken that door if you’d been any slower.” Steve said mid-sentence, before resuming his quiet narration.

“Relax babe,” Tony said, still feeling giddy, “you hadn’t even made it down the stairs yet.”  
  
Natasha smirked triumphantly, fist bumping Thor. “Tony chasing Steve and reaching the stairs, pay us up losers.”  
  
“With Natasha’s 40, and my 60, I believe that is 100 dollars from each of you.” Thor said with a grin.

Clint collapsed dramatically onto the floor. “Rigged, this whole thing was fucking rigged.”  
  
“You locked us here in the first place Barton,” Tony said, “that’s not exactly playing by the rules.”  
  
“Actually…” Bruce said, his eyes glued to his wallet as he fished out the notes, “the back door was unlocked the entire time.”

Tony and Steve both froze, their head turning to simultaneously glare at their friends. “Evil, you guys are just evil.” Tony said.

“I was going to break the front door.” Steve said.

Clint eyed them carefully. “Abort, this was a terrible plan, they’re even worse now that they’re together.”  
  
“Oh relax,” Natasha said, “let’s finally have a family Christmas already.”

And they did. They’d even bought U and Dum-E along too, still wearing his terribly drawn skull and crossbones hat.

It was perfect.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I’m always open to constructive criticism! Bare in mind though, this hasn’t been beta’d, it’s 3am, I need sleep before I edit this or fix this up.
> 
> Hang out with me on [tumblr](https://lesty-xx.tumblr.com/) where I'm screaming about the latest trailer that's buried me 6ft under and thank you for reading my first Stony fic! I hope I did them justice!


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